Several leaders of the Bharti Kisan Union (BKU) (Ekta Ugrahan) were detained across Punjab by the police on Friday, ahead of the union’s protest demanding the release of its two jailed members.
The farmers’ union had planned a protest outside the District Administrative Complex here and had also proposed to organise a gathering at Bhucho Khurd village.
Visuals from Barnala district showed a fight between BKU (Ekta Ugrahan) members and the police at Tapa. The farmers were trying to move towards Bathinda but were stopped by the police. They then attempted to cross the barricades, but were prevented from moving ahead. Union leaders claimed that several of their members were detained and taken into preventive custody by the police.
“Many of our leaders have been detained at different places across the state, including Bathinda, Tarn Taran, Amritsar and Moga,” said Sukhdev Singh, a senior leader of the farmers’ outfit.
“We have been demanding the release of two BKU (Ekta Ugrahan) leaders who have been lodged in Bathinda jail since April last year. Their arrests came after our union supported a group of teachers who were protesting against alleged corruption at a school,” he said.
He added that talks had been held with the authorities in recent days regarding their release, and they had received assurances that the issue would be resolved.
He also said that at several places across the state, farmers staged ‘dharnas’ on Friday to protest against the detention of their leaders.
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